On June 4, 2011 Initiatives for China will present an Open Letter to UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon regarding the Chinese government’s serious and on-going human rights violations against its own people Open Letter to the Secretary-General of United Nations His Excellency Ban Ki-moon The United Nations 1 United Nations Plaza New York, New York 10017-3515 CC: Member States of the UN Security Council, Member States of the UN Human Rights Council, and European Parliament June 4, 2011 Dear Mr. Secretary-General: Twenty-two years ago today, Chinese Communist dictators, responding to student-led pro-democracy protests, called out tens of thousands of troops to “crush a counter-revolutionary riot.” In a spasm of unimaginable violence, heavily armed soldiers and tanks attacked peaceful protesters. They shot at unarmed Chinese in and near Tiananmen Square, resulting in the death and maiming of thousands...

SPEECH by Dr. Yang Jianli Geneva, March 15, 2011 Good afternoon fellow delegates and distinguished guests. Thank you for the opportunity to address you here today. I am compelled to begin with a call for a moment of silence for the Japanese people, whose unimaginable suffering continues. Their suffering speaks to our common humanity and to our recognition that their suffering is our suffering. (Moment of Silence) The nations of the world are providing assistance to the Japanese people, collectively working to help Japan regain its physical well being. Unfortunately, we are here today because our collective response to willful destruction of the human spirit by the tyrannies of the world is not the same as our collective response to natural disaster. Please allow me to present this situation, and appeal for help; since late February, the Chinese Government...

Dr. Yang Jianli, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Dr. Han Lianchao, March 14, 2011 The Jasmine Revolution began in China in February, after domino effects of Middle East protests. It started as a message posted on the world wide web by an anonymous person/group, listing the time and location that protests would take place in each major Chinese city. Use of the internet – blogs, Twitter, and other online media – spread the message quickly among tens of thousands of people. The actual Chinese Jasmine Revolution takes the form of simply walking at designated gathering locations, in a peaceful and non-violent manner, which does not violate any Chinese law. However, the Chinese government, nervous and alarmed, took swift and serious action against the people participating, as well as against dissidents and lawyers who defend human rights. This wave of arrests has become...

Liu Xianbin, a noted Chinese political activist from Sichuan Province, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on March 25, 2011. After a 2 ½ hour trial, the Suining Intermediate People’s Court convicted Liu of inciting subversion of state power. During the Court proceedings, a total of 21 trial audits were offered. 19 of them were appointed by the authorities, while only 2 on Liu’s behalf were allowed – one from his wife and one from his brother. Liu himself was given almost no opportunity to speak during the trial – his draft defense statement was confiscated beforehand, and he was not allowed to make a final statement. At most, he was allowed to answer yes or no questions from the trial attorneys. Background: An avid democracy advocate since his university days, Liu Xianbin is no stranger to the...